We got an invitation to our friends' house for dinner and fireworks. We were happy to have good friends and no crowds after last year, especially with all the hype for this year and Dubai's plans to shatter the world record for firework displays. Spoiler: they did indeed, no questions asked, smash the old record many times over.
After the much longer Al Arab show, there was another pause. It was long enough that the little girls gave up and went back downstairs to resume playing. But the rest of us stayed and soon saw the whole skyline light up in explosions. You had to keep turning your head from side to side to see it all. The whole Palm and the World Islands had a synchronized show that just kept going and going. Their house was somewhere in the middle so it was like a 180 degree spectacle. Now for a few shots I grabbed off the web.
The Kadirs live a few blocks from the beach and near the Burj Al Arab--the sailboat building. We would cook and eat and then just before midnight go up on the roof to see the show.
Isaac, Tarek, Zaid, Makenna and Adam played a (new to us) game called Munchkin.
Sarah, Divina, Allaya and Jessica worked the ping pong table.
The moms and dads worked the kitchen. Seafood was the main theme. Oysters, crab, huge prawns, salmon, hammor (fish), and mussels. There was also salad, veggies, rice, and hummus. Later there was fruit pizza and crazy cake (guess which family was in charge of dessert!) but I never took a picture, though they were the best batches made in Dubai.
Michele, Glenda and me. Gaith
Jess was the first brave child to try an oyster. I made her keep it in her mouth so I could take a picture before she spit it out. I don't think any of the other kids liked them either. Isaac tried them too, but Makenna passed.
They loved everything else! They dished up plates and mostly went outside to eat, coming back for seconds and thirds.
After everyone was stuffed, the kids played more games--they started up Curses and that was a big hit--and the adults went outside. Matt started driving home. The plan was for him to join us after work, but instead of belaboring the longest and most frustrating commute story ever, I'll just say that he didn't make it. He was totally stuck in traffic and actually got home after us! Poor guy.
At 11:50-ish we all went up to the roof. They were projecting numbers on the side of the Burj Al Arab counting down to midnight. We were wearing hats and had blowers. When the clock struck 12, the Burj Khalifa started shooting off fireworks. We went to the north side of the roof and watched the show in the distance. It lasted about as long as last year. There was a pause, and then the Burj Al Arab started theirs. WOW. They were so big and so beautiful. We were close and it somehow felt surreal, like you were wearing 3-D glasses, the explosions blooming towards us. None of the pictures will come close to doing it justice. Neither will Youtube, but it's worth a look if you are curious. Amazing show.
Pre-show.
Makenna took the above and below with her little camera.
From a helicopter: the Palm and the world islands.
a small section of what we were seeing.
A professional shot--basically what we saw, but from the other side.
After it was really, really over, we hung out a little longer. This is what they were doing when I pulled them away at 1, the four biggest kids pushing each other around on little baby cars. We drove away about 15 minutes later and got home an hour later. It actually took over 45 minute to go less than a mile, but once we hit Umm Suqeim, it was smooth sailing.
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